


I've Got You

by LeonardVindel



Category: Uncharted (Video Games)
Genre: Angst, Blood Loss, F/F, Guilt, Gun Violence, Serious Injuries, Strong Female Characters, mention of elena fisher, mention of victor sullivan, mentions of harry flynn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-24
Updated: 2018-10-31
Packaged: 2019-08-06 17:03:20
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,383
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16391672
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LeonardVindel/pseuds/LeonardVindel
Summary: Despite Nadine and Sam's warnings, Chloe pushes the team to retrieve the artefact they need. The price to be paid may be greater than she anticipated.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I got an image in my mind. I made artwork for it https://artofleonardvindel.tumblr.com/image/167246083114  
> I hinted at a possible drabble and the usual suspects encouraged me to do it so I did and the long awaited 2nd and final chapter is in the works.
> 
> Thank you to bri_notthecheese, Thecsquirrel and pfeiffersvu; for giving me the extra push to finish the little drabble I had created.  
> And you to who is about to read this, thank you.
> 
> Please excuse all grammar and spelling mistakes. That excludes the South African lingo, translations can be found in the end notes.

It was harder to get back to Nadine than Chloe originally thought. The underground fort was mostly dark and the passages kept leading back to the exact same door she had locked picked earlier. A maze built to confuse and trap any perpetrators who entered. Sam said he had a bad feeling about it and Nadine felt that there too many risks involved but Chloe felt it was the only option they had in order to get closer to the treasure they were after. Nadine followed regardless, incase Chloe ended up kicking the hornets’ nest like she usually did and of course she wouldn’t let the love of her life go into the unknown alone. 

Chloe shone the flashlight onto her wrist watch. “Damn it!” was all she could whisper. Nadine offered to keep two armed men busy while she retrieved the artefact they needed but it had been over 40min ago now and the radios were jammed so she didn’t know where Nadine was or whether she was okay or not. An uneasy feeling in her gut started to simmer regarding the safety of her ex-paramilitary girlfriend. Chloe took in a deep breath and ran through the passages again, she passed a few men that she had dealt with earlier and they were still unconscious, good.

She turned an unfamiliar corner and caught sight of a pulsing crimson light, towards the end of a dimly lit room. That pulse could only come from one object, the Queen’s Ruby, which she gifted to Nadine days after their first adventure together and Nadine almost never took it off. She made a mad dash towards it hoping it was still attached to Nadine. When Chloe got close enough, she could make out Nadine’s limp form on the ground. She almost face planted the floor, slipping on a fluid beneath her feet but she got to Nadine. She shone the yellow light of her flashlight over her seemingly unconscious girlfriend. The more the light ran down Nadine’s body the more damage Chloe saw and the fluid she had slipped on was Nadine’s body too, slowly pooling underneath and spreading around her.

“Nadine?” Chloe whispered touching her girlfriend. Nadine’s skin felt unusually cool to the touch. Her eyebrows knitted together in concern and she gently turned Nadine over only to be almost blinded by a few bright flood lights in the room. Chloe gave it a few seconds for her eyes to adjust and when she did a gasp of horror escaped her lips, "Dear God." How could 40 minutes of leaving her girlfriend alone with a two armored men, end up like this?  
The right side of Nadine’s forehead had a nasty bleeding gash, her right eye was red and swelling by the second, blood trickled from her nose and mouth and the right side of her abdomen displayed a bullet entry wound that was bleeding. Chloe placed two fingers on the pulse on Nadine’s neck; she let out a sigh of relief at the feel of Nadine’s pulse. It was rapid though and her breaths were shallow.  
By reflex, Chloe wiped the blood from underneath Nadine’s nose before she pressed her hands pressed hard on the abdominal wound in an effort to prevent the blood from leaking out as much as it was. She shook Nadine and called out her name a few times hoping she’d come out of unconsciousness and attempt to keep her awake for as long as she could.

Just then, Chloe heard the shout of a woman giving orders for the men to start shooting. Chloe took a glance over the metal crate Nadine had taken cover from and for a moment saw the bodies of four men and two women lying either dead or unconscious on the ground. It must have been one hell of a fight for Nadine to be the only left marginally breathing. Damn it! She had been outnumbered. Shots were fired at Chloe as she brought Nadine to her lap and then rested her head in her arm while she fired back, calling out to Nadine as loud as she could over the sounds of multiple bullets being hammered out of gun barrels.

It seemed too long when Nadine finally responded, parted her eyes and found herself in Chloe’s embrace as she shot back at those firing at them “It-” her breathing was so irregular and the pain in her stomach was cutting her words short, “It’s a trap Chloe” she took in a few breaths of air “They left me here to lure you in.”

An exclamation of triumph escaped Chloe’s lips as she shot the man who attempted to throw a grenade at them, watching it take out two other men and another woman who were within close proximity of it. She turned now to face Nadine “Rise and shine love. You did good here.” She kissed Nadine on the cheek, a kiss to the mouth would have stolen any precious air she was fighting to take in.  
“As- askies (sorry), I tried to hold them off” Nadine breathed and grunted at the pain she was feeling. “But before I knew it, there were more than I could handle.”  
Chloe gave her a weary smile, noting that Nadine’s lovely chestnut skin was turning grey “Hey you did a stellar job here. Gold star for you” Chloe then turned her attention back to the gun fire and skillfully took down the remaining four gunmen and women. Her right leg felt wet and warm from the blood that had started to seep through her jeans. Where the hell was Sam? Did he not hear all the commotion? 

Shuffling that could be heard from the other end of the room made Chloe lift her gun in the direction of the noise. Nadine tugged at her shirt, breathing unsteadily “Chlo-Chloe, I feel cold.”  
Chloe shifted nervously at hearing Nadine inform her of the drop in her body temperature, the hope she had clung to was fading, and yet she held on to what little she had left of it. Chloe continued to stare straight ahead at nothing feeling something rather uncomfortable lodge itself in her throat “What’d you mean? I’m the hottest thing in here.”

Chloe always had her sarcastic, witty comebacks ready to fire; another thing Nadine loved about her so much, she smiled at that thought. This was the one time she wished she’d told Chloe everything she felt and thought about her: not just the ‘Ek liefe vir jou (I love you)’ or the times Chloe would pop herself into her warm bath with her clothes on or the times she’d finish all her rusks and apologise with a pout on her face, she knew would get her forgiveness or as much as she hated doing yoga, it was the quality time she got to spend with Chloe that mattered or the times Chloe assured her that she had the utmost trust in her and that would give her the confidence to keep going or how the Queen’s Ruby would pulse at close range of her beloved selfish dickhead.  
Chloe was her greatest treasure and she wanted her to know that, she wanted her to understand what that meant to her but with what little time she felt had left, she could only barely manage to say “…I think I’m going to-”  
“Wrong answer…I’ve got you!!” came Chloe’s quick response but Nadine felt Chloe’s frame begin to tremble, her eyes not meeting hers in return this time.

The gun in the Chloe’s left arm shook along with her body as her conscience began to attack her, blaming her for Nadine’s current state. Nadine and Sam didn’t want to take the risk but she wanted this last piece of the puzzle. If they bagged this treasure, they could take it easy for the next couple of months and Chloe could finally propose to Nadine on their holiday like she had planned. In her eagerness she lost sight of the goal and got tangled in her emotions and put her liefie’s(lover) life in danger. As Nadine spoke, Chloe couldn’t bring her eyes down to face her. Nadine was in this position because of her. She knew Nadine would follow her regardless of what her military intuition was telling her. Tears burned the edges of her eyes, a clump of unknown matter still sat uncomfortably in her throat and her heart beat fast with fear and anger. The whole beautiful scene she had envisioned over and over in her head was disappearing with each shallow breath and pained groan Nadine made.  
The shuffling from earlier revealed Sam rushing into the room smelling of gun powder and bodies all spread all over the place. The firm tug that Nadine had on her shirt was loosening and the warmth on her jeans from Nadine’s blood kept spreading.

Sam shuffled around next to her “Shit, that’s a lot of blood. We need to try and stop it before we get moving.” Sam made an attempt to grab Nadine so he could place her on the floor but Chloe’s grip became tighter “Chloe” Sam put himself in Chloe’s field of vision so she could see him “We need to try and stop the bleeding or Nadine will bleed out and die.” At Sam’s last words Chloe’s eyes look at him in silent retaliation to his words but he didn’t give her a chance to say anything “Alright fine! Just hold her steady then” He took the gun from Chloe “You can beat yourself up about it later but we have to try and save her.” Chloe nodded blinking away tears that threatened to flee.

Sam tugged at Nadine’s belt and even in her semi-conscious state she found the strength to smack Sam’s hand away. He immediately brought up his arms “Sorry Nadine, please don’t hurt me. I’m going to need your belt to try and stop the bleeding from your stomach.”  
Nadine half-glared and looked up at Chloe who placed a light kiss on her forehead “It’s okay Nadine, we’ve got you.” At Chloe’s reassurance, Nadine nodded. Sam took off his shirt and placed it over her abdomen before wrapping the belt tight around the wound. Nadine grabbed a fist full of Chloe’s shirt at the feel of the pain as Sam tightened the belt around the wound.  
“Did you get the artifact?” Sam asked while tending to Nadine.  
“…yeah” was the only answer Chloe offered  
“Okay, we need to move” He took Nadine’s arm and swung it over his shoulder before threading his other arm behind her knees and the other around her back to lift her “Holy goddamn shit! And she complained that I was heavy” He looked at a very worried Chloe who stood up next to him “Chloe, hand Nadine my gun so she can shot whoever comes in front of us.” Chloe cocked an eyebrow at him “I know what you’re thinking but Nadine is a tough girl, she’s injured but I’ll bet you anything she can still shoot straight” Chloe did just as instructed, taking the gun from Sam’s holster and handing it to Nadine. She picked up her gun again and offered to watch the rear as they made their escape.

As they began to make their way back to the surface, neither woman made an effort to be on the lookout for any potential danger. Half lidded, swollen, chocolate brown eyes looked back to meet watery dark pewter eyes from over Sam’s shoulder. Those brown eyes spoke many things Chloe could not hear, and the questions she asked herself at that moment was if she’d ever get to hear them, if she’d ever get to hear Nadine respond to all the pet names she called her, if she’d ever feel Nadine’s touch on her skin, if she’d ever hear Nadine’s screams of ecstasy or if she’d ever see those chocolate brown eyes look at her like she was the only significant thing in Nadine’s world.

If she lost Nadine now, it’d be all her fault.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Will Nadine make it?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I present the 2nd a final chapter. Longer than I expected it to be but I felt it wouldn't be worth it to carry it into a 3rd.
> 
> You have my thanks for all the kudos and comments I received from the previous chapter.
> 
> This chapter is set in both the past and present marked with **, please be aware of that. All Afrikaans and Tsotsitaal will be translated in brackets (). Please excuse all grammar and spelling mistakes.
> 
> Thank you to bri_notthecheese, Thecsquirrel and pfeiffersvu; for your encouragmenet.  
> And you to who is about to read this, thank you.

#### 

** Present Day **

The view reminded her of when they stood atop Ganesh’s axe back in India, on their first adventure together.

She stood near the edge, on the top of Table Mountain. It wasn't as completely flat as it looked from the ground below; it had a granite type surface with, what the locals called, Fynbos, growing wildly all over it. 

Just like Halebidu, it was peaceful here.

The cool Table Mountain breeze swept past her face, recalling the sudden wind that had almost knocked them off their feet. Nadine had instinctively grabbed onto her and she in return grabbed her bicep to stabilise. The real beauty though, lay on her chestnut skin at the moment. The awe in her eyes at the sight of the lush jungle below her. The memory brought a smile to her face, “This is an impressive view china” her arms wrapped around the box she was holding “You caught me off guard with this one. I’d have thought you’d choose a wildlife reserve not the top of a mountain.”

#### 

**7 Months Ago**

The first shot Nadine fired landed directly into a man's head, the second and third hit another's shoulder before getting in another head shot. Nadine's skilful firing took down two more after that. As expected of an ex-paramilitary soldier. 

Chloe, on the other hand, wasn't fairing so well. She wasted a few good easy shots before finally hitting her mark. A chaotic storm of emotions raged within her. About how much of a bad idea it had actually been to break into the underground fort. To have gambled their lives so carelessly and now, because of that, Nadine was in mortal danger.  
It wasn't like Elena in Shambhala, who had put herself too close to Harry in order to try and save him. She had almost died too that day. But that was her choice. Nadine had gone because Chloe had pushed the idea. But it was too late for her to dwell on that now, she needed to focus, she needed to save Nadine.

Burning arms and too many missed shots forced Sam to eventually put Nadine down behind cover as more reinforcements arrived. He opened his hand for Nadine to hand the gun over to him "I'll take it from here Nadine."  
Aware of her missed shots, Nadine handed Sam back his firearm without protest, and let Sam do the rest.

When the passage had fallen silent, Sam picked Nadine up again and began a sloppy jog down the passage and came to a stop at the end of it.

"This way!" they said in unison, only Chloe had taken the passage leading left and Sam the right.

"What makes you so sure that's the right way out?" 

"I'm not but I marked the wall earlier there" Sam gestured with his head, to a little bit of the concrete wall he'd scratched on prior "There's a medic room down here somewhere. Maybe we can find something to help Nadine."

Chloe ran to catch up "Sounds like a plan."

"See Nadine? I'm good for something."

"Mhmm, using the old 'noodle' as you call it." Nadine replied

A bullet narrowly missed and hit the wall when Sam ran into another passage, with Nadine in his arms. "Oh shit! That was close."  
Nadine cried out at Sam's sudden movements and was then put down for a second time.

Chloe knelt down and put her hand on the one Nadine had over her stomach wound then to her cheek "Hey, how are you holding up?"

"N-not so lekker (nice) but I think I can manage. "

Chloe joined Sam and look a peek around the wall. She recognised one of the faces as the one of the guys she knocked out earlier, who was now guarding the door to the medic room. She felt immediate regret at not having ended his life there and then. She turned back to Sam "We have the artefact in our possession. Any ideas as to why they're guarding the door?"

He shrugged his shoulders pulling out his gun "I don't know, I didn't open it. I was about to when I heard a whole lot of shooting and knew you ladies had been spotted. So I came to the rescue." He checked the ammo capacity of his gun's magazine, hopefully I'd be enough. Neither of them had picked up any ammo from their last gun fight. "There's only one way to find out." 

Chloe picked up a lone wooden plank and threw it into the passage, to divert the armed men's attention then took her first shots "We call dibs on that room guys!"

Followed by Sam. 

Neglecting to pick up ammo previously, Sam and Chloe found their clips empty after shooting down five of the six men that had been guarding the door. Before panic could settle in, there was a grunt from behind them and a knife whizzed between both of them and straight into the last man's head when he dared to peer over the cover he'd taken. Chloe and Sam both turned around to see Nadine clutching her side in pain, leaning on the wall for support, "Ja, I've-I've still got it."

Chloe ran to her side and slung her arm over her shoulder "You're always there to save my arse Nadine. Thanks"

Nadine scoffed in reply and lent most of her weight on Chloe as they walked.

Sam ran ahead and kicked the door open. He froze in place "Umm..." He turned to look at Chloe who was approaching with Nadine "They weren't guarding something. They were guarding _someone_."

"What?" 

Chloe stood by the door beside Sam and followed the direction of his gaze. There on a bed lay an injured woman, still in her tattered, blood covered uniform, hooked up to all sorts of medical machinery. The guards that now that now lay dead outside the door thanks to Chloe, Sam and Nadine, had been guarding her.

"That's-That's the woman from... two days ago. With- with that big group." Nadine mentioned to Chloe 

"I thought we got rid of all of them." Sam added

Chloe felt Nadine place her head on her shoulder and her knees buckle "Hang on Nadine. We'll get you patched up love." Chloe turned to Sam "Hold her steady so I can make room for her on the bed."

"Chloe..." Sam gave Chloe an incredulous look "That woman is going to die if you-" the look on Chloe's face stopped him from continuing any further. He held Nadine as Chloe had instructed and watched her walk over to the woman lying on the bed.

"We've dealt with most of the armed forces here. Who's going to check on her vitals when we leave?" Chloe worked her way to remove any medical equipment attached to the woman on the bed, the machines making protest at the loss of connection. She stopped for a second, as if to rethink her actions, her face softened when her eyes scanned over Nadine's injured form before turning into a scowl "She gave us away. If it weren't for her Nadine wouldn't be in the condition she's in," she yanked the IV line out of her arm "They wouldn't have been expecting us."

Sam said nothing further, realising that Chloe was shifting the blame. It wasn't her fault entirely, Sam and Nadine had both agreed, eventually. They were both aware of the risk.  
He watched her haul the woman's body off the bed and onto the floor.

Without saying a word, Sam helped Nadine up onto the bed.

Both Sam and Chloe began to search for any available medical supplies. Most of the cupboards and draws were empty or had items that weren't going to aid Nadine. They must have used whatever they had on their comrade.

"Found a bottle of water-based Iodine and gauze." Chloe announced to Sam, shaking it to feel how much of it was left. A reasonable amount.

Sam could be heard shuffling through a few draws then turned victoriously to Chloe "I got a needle, cotton wool pads but no sutures." 

At that moment, Chloe and Sam got distracted by a garbled sound from the floor. Sam checked over to see the woman, who had been on the bed, start to convulse in an attempt to breathe. It wouldn't be long now, she would soon be dead.

"Alright, I'll work on Nadine's head wound first." She pointed to the unopened draws and cupboards at the back of the medical room, "Check there to see if you can find suture thread and some painkillers." Chloe was stepped over the woman's body, took the items from Sam and went right to Nadine's side. Nadine's head wound wasn't as bad as it looked. It had thankfully closed up on its own. Her vision moved down to Nadine's abdomen, that wound, she was very concerned about. 

Sam came into Chloe's field of view with suture thread "This was all I could find." There wasn't much of it left "It'll probably be just enough to hold the wound for now."

"It'll have to do" Chloe looked the thread then to Sam "Thanks."

Sam nodded in response, suddenly itching for a cigarette now that the action had gone quiet. "I'm going to grab a quick smoke outside while you work on Nadine."

"I need you here Sam."

The desperation in Chloe's voice was enough for Sam to try and endure the craving for a little while longer.

Nadine's eyes were half lidded and she was struggling to stay awake so Chloe placed her hand onto the bleeding wound that had been held together by Sam's shirt and her belt. 

"Eish! Eina (ouch)!"

Chloe gave Nadine a peck on her cheek "The sun's still up out there darling. It's too early for you to go to sleep."

Nadine just tried to take in deep breaths.

Chloe had to pull the belt tighter in order to loosen it which earned her another moan from Nadine. She lifted her standard blue shirt to about where her last rib would be, she was greeted with a dark hole and blood oozing from it. It must have hurt pretty bad but so far Nadine had done her best to mute her pain. That was all going to change within the next minute or so. She was hoping to see the bullet and pull it out but there was no sign of it. Nadine would need professional help for this.

The Iodine and cotton wool pads were placed on the bed beside Nadine as Chloe mounted it and straddled Nadine’s powerful legs, “Sam, hold her down while I clean the wound."

Sam took in a nervous breath, a little paranoid that Nadine might sock him in the jaw “Nadine, I’m just gonna hold you down so Chloe can clean the bullet wound alright?”  
Brown eyes looked into his before a “Ja” response was returned. 

Chloe tipped the bottle of the water-based Iodine onto the cotton wool pad, took a deep breath and proceed to clean Nadine's unsightly gunshot wound. The first few swipes were around the opening of the wound so Nadine was relatively still. It wasn't until Chloe took a clean piece of cotton, dabbed the Iodine over it and patted the open wound, did Nadine finally react.

"Yissus!! (Chirst)" Nadine yelled, her body attempted to squirm away from the pain. 

Both Sam and Chloe added more weight on Nadine to keep her from moving. Being gentle about this was only going to make it harder for all of them and as it was, time was not on their side. Chloe had to switch off all of Nadine’s pained yells.  
Memories of her mother using it on her when she’d hurt herself as an adventurous child, reminded of how much the iodine solution really stung. 

Nadine tried her best not to thrash around but eventually, "St-STOP STOP STOP!" she took in as many breaths as she could "Pl-Please stop Chloe…Please."

Chloe threw the blood covered cotton onto the floor to joining the others that she'd used "Okay, alright china. I'm going to stitch this up and wrap it too. So please bear with me okay." 

Nadine responded with a tired nod. It didn't escape Chloe to notice that Nadine's skin had gotten slightly paler than before. Never mind that, she needed to carry on.  
Sewing was never Chloe’s strong suit and sewing together irritated, swollen skin was met with a challenge. In the end, it looked like shoddy work but she did her best and proceeded to use the gauze and wrapped it up tight enough so that Nadine could still breathe.

Sam then proceeded to put Nadine on his back. They walked out the room leaving the woman there, who was now quiet having succumbed to her injuries, along with many of the others they had to contend with.

They got a bit turned around trying to find the exit but the managed to stumble into the underground fort's garage. Their standard red Jeep would be okay where they'd left it.  
Chloe quickly worked her magic on a vehicle in the garage and got it started. Sam placed Nadine at the back and moved towards the driver's side "Chloe, I'll drive. You've got to keep Nadine talking."

Chloe didn't argue and jumped right into the back as Sam took his position behind the wheel and crashed their way out the underground garage of the fort.

Chloe took Nadine’s hand in her own, it was colder than before and clammy. She looked at the Queen's Ruby bracelet "Hey there love." Nadine looked her "Aren't I just a genius for giving you this bracelet? It led me to you like always."

"It was a good gift. Be-Better than flowers and -cho-chocolate."

Chloe chuckled "Ohh you know I'm not the flowers and chocolate kind of girl." Chloe cleared her throat, feeling that dreaded clump of anxiety that she had failed to swallow "But I do owe you a marvellous dinner now. What would you like me prepare for you?"

"Your- your cooking isn't great liefie(love)" Nadine gave her an honest answer "I-I'd rather have a MRE."

Chloe faux recoiled "Ouch! Give me some credit, it was the first time I was cooking pap and vle-vleis"

Nadine giggled a little before the pain became a bit much "You burnt both the pap and the boere-boerewors"

"Again, it was my first time but the peppermint crisp tart you made for dessert was delicious and the extra dessert after that too."

Nadine remained silent for a bit before answering Chloe "I-I would have loved to have made it for yo-you ag-again."

Sensing Nadine's doubt "Hey hey hey hey, no! You're going to make it okay" She blinked away the tears threatening to escape her eyes. She didn't want to think about that.

Again Nadine was silent for a little while longer, just looking at Chloe then said "Wi-wie is jy (Who are you)?" Her eye brows knitted together in confusion.

Chloe raised an eyebrow "Sorry love? My Afrikaans is terrible, what did you say?"

"Who are yo-you?" Nadine tried to pull her hand back from Chloe. The blood loss was causing her to experience confusion.

Chloe held on tighter "It's me - Chloe. Your skat (sweetheart). Your liefie (love). Your selfish dickhead."

"Chlo-Chloe." Nadine repeated, relaxing as the moment of confusion cleared. How could she forget her Chloe? 

"That's right." Chloe pointed to the front seat "And that's Sam. You remember him right?"

Sam turned his head "Hang in there Miss Ross"

"Voet-voetsak (piss off)" Nadine spat back. That was one person she wouldn't mind forgetting.

Chloe laughed a bit "That's the spirit."

Sam wasn't the best at driving and it became very apparent when the vehicle suddenly dipped to the one side as a tyre went into a pothole. Chloe and Nadine followed the direction of the tilt. Chloe did her best to keep Nadine from falling off with her. Nadine's pained groans could be heard over the rattling of the vehicle. "Christ Sam!" Chloe instinctively placed her hand on the stitched wound on Nadine's side and cradled Nadine's torso.

Sam steadied the vehicle again "Sorry sorry. I didn't see that. Just focus on keeping Nadine awake!" His apologetic, determined eyes looked back at Chloe through the rear a view mirror "We're almost back in town! Tell Nadine to hang in there!"

Nadine's skin could now easily be classified as grey, it was paler than it had ever been, her breathing still so shallow. She tried to lift her hand to Chloe's face but was only able to grasp the forearm cradling her torso. Chloe responded by kissing her lips and felt a tear hit her cheek before rolling off her face. She felt so sad that she'd failed someone she loved again. First her father and now the love of her life.

"You're not going to die you hear me?" Chloe begged more than commanded her "You're going to make it."

Chloe's ear was close enough for Nadine to speak to her liefie (love) "Ek is (I am) -I'm not upset Chlo-Chloe." She desperately drew in more air "It's not...your-your fault okay. Prom-Promise me that you-you won't blame yourself...f-for this."

"Just stay alive for me and I promise I won't blame myself" Chloe replied parting her tear filled grey eyes and looking into Nadine's half lidded brown eyes.

"Hey! I can see the town" Sam shouted through the rumbling of the tyres over gravel

Chloe lifted her head to confirm if Sam was seeing the right thing. She let out a breath, feeling relief wash over her, Nadine really had a fighting chance, she was going to make it. 

She turned to give Nadine the good news but her smile of relief was replaced with a frown. 

Nadine lay still. Eyes half lidded, looking at Chloe. No longer breathing and her half smile frozen in time.

"No... no no no no." Chloe shook her head "Nadine?! China?! NADINE?!" Panic and dismay surfaced and Chloe immediately started chest compressions on Nadine, "Please-please don't do this to me."

Sam looked into the rear view mirror when he heard Chloe's panicked voice. The car slowed down as he turned to the back watching Chloe's attempts and seeing Nadine's unresponsive eyes staring back at her. The wound that Chloe had closed up had opened again and bleeding all over onto the seat. It might have torn open when he went into that unexpected hole moments ago. He gently put his foot on the breaks to stop the vehicle. 

"Keep driving Sam!!" Chloe shouted back, tears falling from her eyes and onto Nadine's face "She-" Strong arms wrapped themselves around Chloe's torso and pulled her off Nadine. "No Sam! Let go of me!" Chloe wriggled in his hold, trying to free herself.

Sam held his grip firm around Chloe "Chloe! She's gon-" An elbow to the side of the head loosened his arms around Chloe but he quickly recovered and held her tighter.  
From the adrenaline of shooting his way through the underground fort, to carrying Nadine around, to driving the vehicle at high speed; Sam had very little energy but to watch Chloe go on and try to revive Nadine wasn't something he looked forward watching so he held on. If the door of the vehicle could magically close so that Chloe would begin to accept, he'd be grateful for that.

Chloe fought him for a good while before she ultimately gave in to the despair and weakened in her attempts. Tears and cries of anguish freely escaped her body. Sam went down slowly with her to the ground and let her pour all of it onto his shoulder.

It took so long for Chloe to stop weeping, for her breathing to return to normal for her body to stop trembling and when she did, she gently pulled back and wiped Sam's now wet vest and shoulder said a whispered "C'mon, we'd better get moving" and headed for the backseat of the vehicle. She got in, closed Nadine's eyes and gave her cold lips another kiss. She then resumed her position in the driver's seat while Sam quietly went to the passenger side, a seat Nadine always occupied. 

A pop sounded from the vehicles' lighter. Sam fished out of his pocket a beaten looking cigarette carton and shook one out. The sponged end placed in his mouth, he pulled the lighter out and lit it the cigarette. Finally taking in a deep drag that he had been craving. 

They drove the rest of the way in silence. 

### 

Sam offered to go on with recovering the lost treasure the three of them had been hunting without Chloe. Chloe didn't object to Sam's suggestion as she had to find a mortuary to keep Nadine's body from decomposing, which would prove difficult.

No mortuary was willing to keep a foreign body that had been shot without informing the local authorities and the state of Chloe's current blood covered attire was of no assistance. Chloe eventually 'offered' some money and careful manipulation to keep Nadine's body without question. At least until she could find a way to move Nadine out of the country and back to South Africa and that too was going to be met with challenges.

Sam returned victorious within the next two days and at finding the state in which Chloe was in, Sam wondered if it was really a good idea to have left her. Chloe filled him in on Nadine's body the that she cleaned and 'lost' the borrowed vehicle and recovered their rental.

The money they'd gotten from the recovered treasure was worthless now that Nadine had died in process of getting it. 

Keeping the mortuary owner quiet about Nadine's body was expensive, trying to find a way past the local authorities was expensive, staying at the local bed and breakfast was expensive, days spent wallowing away in a bar was expensive but the biggest expense was that of Chloe's heart. Her risky decision cost her the love of her life.

Sleeping was what Chloe found the hardest to do. Her subconscious transported her to a place where Nadine existed in all her love and strength, only for Chloe to wake up hours later to an empty bed, a headache and no fresh cup of coffee by her bedside table. If it's one thing Nadine always did, it was to make Chloe coffee or rooibos tea every morning without fail. Sometimes it would come with a rusk if they were home at their apartment, Buttermilk Rusks. Nadine's clothes were still neatly packed in her bag and Chloe found herself picking up her curly dark hair everywhere, their apartment would no doubt hold the same. 

Sam woke Chloe up one afternoon after another heavy night of drinking. Chloe yelled at him for not knocking but he had expressed his concern when she didn't answer her phone. The solution to the reason why that had happened would be in the remains of said cellphone, lying on the floor by the far wall. Chloe broke her phone regularly so it wasn't something new but what she kept from Sam was that it had been a result of listening to an old voice mail that Nadine had left her. In a fit of anger, she'd ended up throwing it against the wall.  
At that point Sam sat himself down on the bed and had a discussion with Chloe. He didn't claim to understand how she felt or give her advice that it'd pass, this was information that Chloe already knew. He simply asked that in honour of Nadine, they work together to get her body out of the country first and that Nadine would have wanted for Chloe to carry that out for her. All her blame, grief and anger would be welcomed later on.  
Chloe agreed knowing Nadine wouldn't want her to self destruct.

It'd take another two months of trying to find a way to get Nadine's body out of the country. Help came in the form of Victor Sullivan and his plane.  
He wasn't thrilled about having a dead body on his plane but Chloe offered him Nadine's share of their takings. As much of a swindler that Victor was, he couldn't accept the money. He just asked that the fuel expenses be covered for the trips he'd take to get their location, South Africa and back home. Chloe and Sam agreed.

Once in South Africa, more palms had be greased in order for Nadine to get a death certificate, which stated that she'd died from Hypovolemic shock only, and cremation in accordance with her will.

Chloe was lucky enough that Nadine's remaining family knew how dangerous their line of work was so she was able to walk around a few suspicious questions at Nadine's memorial.  
Nadine's ashes were handed over to Chloe to release at the top of Table Mountain in Cape Town, in the early hours of the morning.

#### 

** Present Day **

"Hey Chloe, they're going to open up for the public in 10. You might want to- you know." Sam suggested

Chloe nodded, running her right hand with the ring she had planned to give Nadine, over the temporary container and lifting the lid. She saw the same dark grey she'd seen for the four days since receiving Nadine's ashes. That was all that was left of her and now, she was to let her go and get carried off by the Cape winds as Nadine's will requested. The container was slowly tipped over and the ashes of Chloe's love, her darling, her china, were carried off by the wind. Chloe watched as they climbed high in a current of dust.

Tears escaped Chloe's eyes at the sight "I love you Nadine and - I'm so sorry." At that last bit of her farewell, some of Nadine's ashes were carried into Chloe's face "Pff-pff...ewww gross Nadine."

Sam laughed in the background "I don't think she accepted your apology Chloe."

Chloe wiped the last of Nadine's ashes off her face and chuckled "Yeah, she was always such a stubborn dickhead." 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did you manage to survive that? 
> 
> Translations:
> 
> Lekker (Good)  
> Eina (ouch)  
> liefie - love  
> Wie is jy (Who are you)  
> Skat (sweetheart)  
> Ek is (I am)  
> Voetsak (piss off)
> 
> Thank you again :D

**Author's Note:**

> Translations:  
> Askies - Sorry  
> Ek liefe vir jou - I love you  
> liefie’s - lover
> 
> Thank you for reading :) 
> 
> Comments and feedback are appreciated.
> 
> P.S: If the stars align then chapter 2 will be up same time next week ;)


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